Tamworth Pig Update

Morning All,

We have had a very productive week…..our leeks, all 640, are now in polytunnel 6. More importantly, our tomatoes, all 200!, are now planted in polytunnel 7. We have left a gap in polytunnel 7 for the peppers and cucumbers, which will be planted when they are a little stronger. But ALL 7 polytunnels are now up and running. We will be putting the celery, lettuces and more radish under the tomatoes in a few days. But Bob and I are very happy having the tunnels full and made total use of.

The day to day info told….now the exciting info….

You should all realise that we keep Tamworth pigs. You will all understand how much enjoyment they give to us. You should also know we are novices at being pig farmers. You should also know we are members of the Tamworth Breeders Club….obviously.

On Sunday Bob and I attended our first Tamworth Breeders Club Workshop….how exciting!!!! By 10.15am on Sunday morning we were in Wooler, at a Tamworth pig farm run by a lovely lady called Sarah. We met with Ryan, the chairperson of the club (who happens to live in Gateshead!) and a number of other members. A big start to the day-the tea/coffee and biscuits, but more importantly the chat. Bob and I were firstly a little unsure as to the ‘gene pool’ and ‘breeding line’ conversation but we eventually got it. Then the chat turned to the names of all the top male pigs in the world, yes the world, and low and behold, our boar happens to be from one of the best lines. Our boar is of the ‘Royal Standard’ line. We call him Royal.

Next the walk around. It is great to see other farmers doing there thing as we watch and learn, picking up great tips, some which seem like such common sense. For instance, we feed bran and pellets to our pigs separately. Sarah premixed her food. We now follow Sarah’s idea. More chat and ideas.

Lunch then good old Bob joined in the fun of tattooing piglets with individual numbers into their ears. No….we are not branching out, we are certainly not opening a tattoo parlour!

Ryan then passed by Hexhamshire on his way home and gave our pigs the ‘once over’. He confirmed what us novices already thought….great pigs. However, it was good to hear this from the experts point of view.

A fab day but more importantly, Bob and I now realise that we knew more about pigs than we thought and we now know more about pigs than we did. It really was an exciting day for us.

Take care,

Ann